In January 2017, the world’s interest piqued in regards to one particular dystopian novel, George Orwell’s "1984." It is interesting that in response to events at the time, a novel published in 1949 skyrocketed to the Amazon bestseller list. While 1984 is a chilling study of overpowered dystopian governments, the general public seems to overlook "1984"'s predecessor, "Brave New World." Huxley wrote less about totalitarian government and more about cultural progression and regression, which is enforced not through oppressive rule but through positive reinforcement.
To me, "Brave New World"'s society is more sustainable than that in 1984. Though authoritarian iron-fisted rule can be effective, it can only last for so long until the people revolutionize or until a different government takes its place.
"Brave New World" envisions a society in which a pleasure-obsessed mindset is encouraged and heightened through a government-regulated distribution of drugs and media. The government's control is so effective in Huxley's world that it doesn't even give the people a reason to want to rebel.
It uses positive distractions to mollify its populations, specifically through all-sensory cinema films called “feelies,” luxurious environments, a drug called “soma,” and a community mindset that is enforced from childhood through “hypnopaedic” messages played while each person is sleeping. The society's motto is "Community, Identity, Stability."
Books are not banned, but their messages are ineffective because no one cares about reading them. When someone deviates from norms, their opinions are not heard because the community shuns them. Huxley's novel demonstrates the most effective type of censorship, which is not government-regulated but citizen-enforced.
While our own world obviously does not have specifically "feelies" or "soma", we are often bombarded with messages in media, advertising, and music that what feels good, is good. We treat ourselves, with or without discretion. Alcohol and other depressants can subdue us, and we willingly participate.
People who meet socially acceptable criteria can climb career ladders, win the good opinion of their bosses and co-workers, and become conventionally successful. We re-share others' opinions on social media to find a community mindset among our peers, rather than developing and sharing our own thoughts.
Celebrity gossip, fad diets, weight loss pills, game shows, and meaningless news clog our television stations and social media websites with so much information that we can scarcely pick apart what is relevant to us. We seek acceptance in a community identity without pausing to think of what it all actually means. We seem obsessed with finding pleasure and happiness, even if only momentarily. The general public seems to read less. Now in an age of information overload, we seem to struggle to figure out what is real, what is meaningful, and what we should do or not do.
I'm not saying that this is all inherently bad, but "Brave New World" does present a chilling vision of a dystopia that is very similar to our current and future society.
Huxley feared that we would become a trivial culture more preoccupied with pleasure and shallow information than exerting our individual identities and opinions. He feared that no one would read because no one would want to. He feared that we would ruin ourselves.
In our own changing world, dystopian fiction becomes ever more important and relevant as a warning and example of what happens when too much control is given to our governments and to our media. Control has different faces.
These faces can be pleasure, ignorance, pain, violence, or brutality in turn or in combination. As the individuals that totalitarian governments fear, readers ought to acknowledge and recognize the purveyors and effects of control in their own lives and societies.
